On Saturday November 16th, 2019, I set out to do an ethnographic observation of their one- year anniversary of the Gilets Jaunes protest. Their classic protest spot is the Champs Elysees, so that’s where I planned to go, but my efforts were swiftly blocked, literally and physically, by the closure of 24 metro stations in the city and rows of police preventing people from getting anywhere near the protest sites. After discussing with several police about how I could get access to the area for research purposes, I was widely advised to go to Place d’Italie..

By: Maria Fustic

Published on December 15, 2019